It's one of the U.S. Border Patrol's most controversial practices: shooting at migrants and suspected drug runners who throw rocks and other objects at agents. Many law enforcement experts say the best option is to take cover or move elsewhere, rather than use lethal force. PERF, hired last year by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to review the Border Patrol's practices, recommended restraint when agents encounter rock throwers who don't pose an imminent threat of serious injury or death. But when the DHS inspector general released a report in September on the Border Patrol's use of force, officials blacked out that call for holding back in such incidents, among other recommendations.

The Missouri Legislature is receiving national attention for passing a law that would make it a state crime for the FBI, ATF and other agencies to do their job of enforcing federal gun laws in Missouri. The outcome of this absurd legislation is that our communities will be less safe if criminals are not prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

In this program, Ben Hartman interviews Chuck Wexler about the recent announcement that Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian, and American police chiefs began a series of meetings in 2012 to discuss policing issues of joint concern. The interview begins at the 11:35 minute mark and continues to 20:00.

Israeli and Palestinian police officers could soon find themselves on joint patrols in search of reckless drivers and other criminals if plans revealed Wednesday by the chief commissioners of both forces are endorsed by their leadership. The two most senior officers of both police forces, alongside their Jordanian counterpart, revealed that they have been meeting secretly over the past year and a half under the auspices of the Police Executive Research Forum, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization.

More than four out of five police agencies in the U.S. have no written policies for handling eyewitness identifications despite long-standing federal guidelines, according to a report obtained by USA TODAY. The report, which was produced for the Justice Department's research arm by the Police Executive Research Forum, is the first national assessment of eyewitness identification standards.

The speed and deadliness of mass shootings have prompted police departments to recommend fleeing, hiding or fighting in the event of a mass attack, instead of remaining passive and waiting for help. In an analysis of 84 such shootings, researchers at Texas State University found that the average time it took for the police to respond was three minutes. "But about half the attacks are over before the police get there, even when they arrive quickly," said J. Pete Blair, an author of the research. In the absence of a police presence, how victims responded often made the difference between life and death, Dr. Blair said.

A little-noticed unit of the Chicago Police Department, the Gang School Safety Team, works to identify youths whose lives may be in danger because they witnessed gang murders or for other reasons. Over the past three years, at the team's recommendation, about 60 students have been transferred to other schools for their protection. Most are sent to another public school in Chicago. Some head to the suburbs. Others need to move out of state.

Law enforcement authorities are increasingly advising school officials - and even young students - to physically confront suspects in future campus attacks as a final line of defense. "These incidents are becoming a fact of life," University of Wisconsin-Madison Police Chief Susan Riseling told a [PERF] meeting of law enforcement colleagues in Washington. "If there is no other option, take the shooter out." Prof. Pete Blair of Texas State University said that in many cases, potential victims "have no choice" but to defend themselves. In a study of 84 active shooter incidents between 2000 and 2012, Blair said that in 16 incidents, victims stopped the attack before police arrived, either by subduing the attacker - 13 cases - or shooting the attacker in three cases.

A rising number of law enforcement officers are required to wear body armor, according to a new study conducted by PERF for the National Institute of Justice. Ninety-two percent of officers reported that their agencies now have mandatory body armor policies, up from 59% in a similar 2009 survey. The report comes as firearm-related police fatalities have declined 34% so far this year, compared with the same period last year.

Thousands of sexual assaults are not reflected in the UCR system because it uses an archaic definition of rape that is narrower than the definitions used by most police departments, according to police chiefs and other experts who discussed the definition and other sexual assault-related issues at a PERF conference in Washington last Friday. UCR Unit Chief Greg Scarbro told participants at the PERF meeting that the FBI agrees the definition should be revised and that an FBI subcommittee will take up the issue on Oct. 18. "Our goal will be to leave that meeting with a [new] definition and a mechanism," Mr. Scarbro said. But he noted that law enforcement agencies would have to support any change.